Electric field-assisted orientation of short phosphate glass fibers on stainless steel for biomedical applications

Structural and compositional modifications of metallic implant surfaces are being actively investigated to achieve improved bone-to-implant bonding. In this study, a strategy to modify bulk metallic surfaces by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of short phosphate glass fibers (sPGF) is presented. Random and aligned orientation of sPGF embedded in a poly(acrylic acid) matrix is achieved by vertical and horizontal EPD, respectively. The influence of EPD parameters on the degree of alignment is investigated to pave the way for the fabrication of highly aligned sPGF structures in large areas. Importantly, the oriented sPGF structure in the coating, owing to the synergistic effects of bioactive composition and fiber orientation, plays an important role in directional cell migration and enhanced proliferation. Moreover, gene expression of MC3T3-E1 cells cultured with different concentrations of sPGF is thoroughly assessed to elucidate the potential stimulating effect of sPGF on osteogenic differentiation. This study represents an innovative exploitation of EPD to develop textured surfaces by orientation of fibers in the macroscale, which shows great potential for directional functionalization of metallic implants

A novel internal fixation technique for the treatment of olecranon avulsion fracture

ObjectiveTension band wiring and proximal ulnar plate fixation are commonly used fixation methods for olecranon fractures. However, they may not be suitable for repairing proximal olecranon avulsion fractures. In this study, we present a novel fixation technique for the treatment of proximal avulsion fractures, which is a T-shaped plate combined with a wire.Materials and methodsBetween March 2016 and May 2020, surgery was performed on 16 patients with proximal olecranon avulsion fractures by using a T-shaped plate combined with a wire fixation at our hospital. The parameters followed were fracture healing time, elbow range of motion (ROM), related functional scores (the Mayo score and the DASH score), and complications related to internal fixation.ResultsThe average follow-up period was 17 (14–21) months and fractures had healed in all patients included in the study, with an average fracture union of 9.25 (8–12) weeks. No patient reported fixation failure, serious infection, or revision surgery. The average ROM of the elbow joint was 123° (120–135°). The Mayo score was excellent in 11 patients and good in 5. The average DASH score was 17.75 (12–24).ConclusionOlecranon avulsion fractures were fixed with a T-shaped steel plate combined with a steel wire, which can be used for early functional exercise and for achieving good final functional results. This method can provide stable fixation, especially in elderly patients with osteoporosis

Mechanical Thrombectomy for Large Ischemic Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There is growing evidence for endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) in patients with large ischemic core infarct and large vessel occlusion (LVO). The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of EVT vs medical management (MM) using a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs). METHODS: We searched the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases to obtain articles related to mechanical thrombectomy for large ischemic core from inception until February 10, 2023. The primary outcome was independent ambulation (modified Rankin Scale [mRS] 0-3). Effect sizes were computed as risk ratio (RR) with random-effect or fixed-effect models. The quality of articles was evaluated through the Cochrane risk assessment tool and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. This study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023396232). RESULTS: A total of 5,395 articles were obtained through the search and articles that did not meet the inclusion criteria were excluded by review of the title, abstract, and full text. Finally, 3 RCTs and 10 cohort studies met the inclusion criteria. The RCT analysis showed that EVT improved the 90-day functional outcomes of patients with large ischemic core with high-quality evidence, including independent ambulation (mRS 0-3: RR 1.78, 95% CI 1.28-2.48, p < 0.001) and functional independence (mRS 0-2: RR 2.59, 95% CI 1.89-3.57, p < 0.001), but without significantly increasing the risk of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH: RR 1.83, 95% CI 0.95-3.55, p = 0.07) or early mortality (RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.78-1.16, p = 0.61). Analysis of the cohort studies showed that EVT improved functional outcomes of patients without an increase in the incidence in sICH. DISCUSSION: This systematic review and meta-analysis indicates that in patients with LVO stroke with a large ischemic core, EVT was associated with improved functional outcomes over MM without increasing sICH risk. The results of ongoing RCTs may provide further insight in this patient population

PSR J1926-0652: A Pulsar with Interesting Emission Properties Discovered at FAST

We describe PSR J1926-0652, a pulsar recently discovered with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). Using sensitive single-pulse detections from FAST and long-term timing observations from the Parkes 64-m radio telescope, we probed phenomena on both long and short time scales. The FAST observations covered a wide frequency range from 270 to 800 MHz, enabling individual pulses to be studied in detail. The pulsar exhibits at least four profile components, short-term nulling lasting from 4 to 450 pulses, complex subpulse drifting behaviours and intermittency on scales of tens of minutes. While the average band spacing P3 is relatively constant across different bursts and components, significant variations in the separation of adjacent bands are seen, especially near the beginning and end of a burst. Band shapes and slopes are quite variable, especially for the trailing components and for the shorter bursts. We show that for each burst the last detectable pulse prior to emission ceasing has different properties compared to other pulses. These complexities pose challenges for the classic carousel-type models.Comment: 13pages with 12 figure

What you don't know... can't hurt you? A natural field experiment on relative performance feedback in higher education

This paper studies the effect of providing feedback to college students on their position in the grade distribution by using a natural field experiment. This information was updated every six months during a three-year period. We find that greater grades transparency decreases educational performance, as measured by the number of examinations passed and grade point average (GPA). However, self-reported satisfaction, as measured by surveys conducted after feedback is provided but before students take their examinations, increases. We provide a theoretical framework to understand these results, focusing on the role of prior beliefs and using out-of-trial surveys to test the model. In the absence of treatment, a majority of students underestimate their position in the grade distribution, suggesting that the updated information is “good news” for many students. Moreover, the negative effect on performance is driven by those students who underestimate their position in the absence of feedback. Students who overestimate initially their position, if anything, respond positively. The performance effects are short lived—by the time students graduate, they have similar accumulated GPA and graduation rates

A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing interventions had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world

DUTIR-BioNLP@BC8 Track 3: Genetic Phenotype Extraction and Normalization with Biomedical Pre-trained Language Models

<h3><strong>Abstract</strong></h3><p>It is important to automatically extract and normalize key medical findings from the observation results written during the physical examination of teratology. The BioCreative VIII Track 3 endeavors to facilitate the advancement and assessment of systems designed to automatically extract and normalize the phenotype entities from electronic health records (EHRs). This paper describes our method used to create our submissions to the track. Our pipelined method for the phenotype concept extraction partitions the process into two subtasks: Named Entity Recognition and Named Entity Normalization. The cutting-edge biomedical pre-trained language models are used for both subtasks. Then the ensemble method is further used to improve the final performance. The official results on the test set show that our best submission achieves the F1-scores of 0.7632 on Subtask 3a and 0.7112 on Subtask 3b.</p><p> </p><p>This article is part of the <a href="https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.10103190">Proceedings of the BioCreative VIII Challenge and Workshop: Curation and Evaluation in the era of Generative Models</a>.</p&gt

Understanding of K and Mg co-promoter effect in ethylene oxychlorination by operando UV–vis-NIR spectroscopy

The comprehensive kinetic study for CuCl2/γ-Al2O3-based catalysts was performed to elucidate the co-promoter effect in the ethylene oxychlorination, one of the most significant industrial processes to produce vinyl chloride monomer. Kinetic analysis was performed separately by transient kinetic studies, taking account of the reduction and oxidation steps in the catalytic cycle. The promoter effects on ethylene oxychlorination were ascribed to their influence on the Cu2+ reduction or Cu+ oxidation in the catalytic cycle. The reaction rate-diagram was gained and used to predict the steady-state reaction rate and Cu oxidation state by an operando setup combing MS and UV–vis-NIR spectroscopy. The results indicated that the K-doped catalyst could greatly increase the reaction rate of the oxidation step, which gave rise to higher Cu2+ concentration on the catalyst. Mg-doped catalyst had a great effect on enhancing the reaction rate for the reduction step. K and Mg co-doped catalyst had the dual effect, both the reaction rate and Cu oxidation state were located between K and Mg mono-doped catalyst. The results of steady-state reactions indicated that the reaction rates were quite close with that predicated by the rate-diagram. Byproduct analysis during the steady-state was also performed, the results demonstrated that the co-promoted catalysts can also reduce the byproduct formation. The current study is expected to provide one way for exploring the potential benefits of co-promotion on CuCl2/γ-Al2O3-based industrial oxychlorination catalysts to improve the catalytic performance and understand the reaction further.publishedVersio